[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985) › c9.1 # The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c9.1 The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c9.1 - **Language:** English ### [c9.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c9.1) It is obvious that the term \*nāstika\*, one who says "there is not," derives from the statement that is considered typical of him. Thus Manu's commentator Medhātiti (ad. 3. 150; 8. 309) characterizes the nāstika as one who, rejecting transcendence and the transcendental effectiveness of sacrifice, states: \*nāsti dattam\*, \*nāsti hutam\*, \*nāsti paralokaḥ\*, "There is no (value in) the gift, there is no (value) in the fire offering, there is no other world." This leads us to a further point. The term \*nāstika\* seems to imply also the context in which it is made, namely, the \*(vi)vāda\*, the disputation, where the \*nāstika\* confronts and competes with his opponent, the \*āstika\*. This is the situation known from the early expositions on \*vāda\*, for instance, the one preserved in the \*Caraka Saṃhitā\*, which exemplifies the vāda in these words: \*ekasya pakṣaḥ punarbhavo 'stīti\*, \*nāstīty aparasya\*, "One holds that there is rebirth, the other that there is none" (3. 8. 28). The point I want to stress is that in Caraka's example, there does not seem to be any question of a heterodox doctrine. In fact, the doctrinal content of the counterthesis (\*pratiṣṭhāpanā\*) seems to be nil. The negative statement is made simply and only for the sake of disputation, not in order to assert a particular doctrine. - [Previous: c8.s3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s3.2) - [Next: c9.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c9.2) - [Up: c9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c9) ## Linked texts (2) - [Carakasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.med.samhita.caraka.3.8.28) — Agniveśa (Āyurveda) & Caraka, Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.3.150) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c9.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c9.1) · Pramāṇa